“Nationally, I am heartened that Americans returned Republicans to the majority in hopes of providing a check on runaway spending in Washington and getting the economy back on track toward growth and job creation. I look forward to working with current members on the Science and Technology Committee, as well as hearing from our new members, to formulate and advance an agenda that keeps our nation moving forward. The Science and Technology Committee will be a place where every member’s ideas will be respected and considered, and all Republicans can play a role in crafting good science policy.

“We must also conduct strong oversight over this Administration in key areas including climate change, scientific integrity, energy research and development (R&D), cybersecurity, and science education. Over the past few years the unprecedented growth of the Federal government and the creation of multiple new and duplicative programs occurred without having first assessed the effectiveness and success of existing programs.

“My goal is to ensure science policy drives innovation and thereby the American economy. Federal investment in R&D must empower the free market, not interfere in it.”

So it looks like he is going to carry out Issa’s request for the great inquisition of climatology. Hall is noted for being part of the group with Sensenbrenner and old Joe Barton for leading the cause against dealing with these types of environmental issues.

Ralph Hall has received $78,199 in oil contributions during the 110th congress. $53,999 of those dollars were from industry PACS. In total, Hall has accepted $307,930 from oil companies between 2000 and 2008, which makes him one of the largest recipients of oil money.

Issa (a Republican from San Diego county) has said repeatedly he wants to investigate “Climategate” and Prof. Mann.

With Hall willing to do Issa’s bidding, and with Barton and Sensenbrenner to back up Hall, I doubt that Boehner or Cantor will be willing or able to stop this fiasco.

Just so you realize that Hall doesn’t really mean “integrity”, consider the following:

Mr. HALL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the last few weeks there has been some very disturbing correspondence that’s surfaced and presents a real dilemma for the scientific community and an even greater dilemma for this Congress as the United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Copenhagen.

As ranking member of the Science Committee, I’m concerned about these revelations dubbed by the press as “Climate-gate” and their implication for the scientific community, Congress, and the American people. Allegations of manipulation of scientific data would be troublesome under any circumstance. The fact that the scientific data in question here is to be used as the basis for global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions or changes to the regulatory regime of the United States makes these allegations that much more disturbing.

[…]

Considering the loss of confidence in the scientific process, it’s even more troubling that policymakers are pushing forward with a scheme that could irrevocably alter our economy and our prosperity.

In the past few weeks, through the disclosure of more than a thousand emails, there is extensive evidence that many researchers across the globe discussed the destruction, alteration, and suppression of data that did not support global warming claims. These exchanges include a leading climate scientist encouraging other scientists to alter data that is the basis of climate modeling across the globe by using the “trick of adding in the real temps to each series ….. to hide the decline [in temperature].”

[More “concern” about science]

Even more troubling is that these exchanges describe attempts to silence academic journals that publish research skeptical of significant manmade global warming and refer to efforts to exclude contrary views from publication in the scientific journals. Some scientists even encouraged the deletion of data and emails to avoid disclosure in the event of a Freedom of Information request.

All of this presents a troubling pattern of attempts not only to misrepresent the data on global warming to meet expectations contained in the theories, but also to silence any dissenters and cover up inappropriate data manipulation.

[and so on …]

That’s just about cut and paste from any denier astroturf website/newsletter out there, with all the attending idiocies. Indeed, I wonder who wrote that speech. Hall is intending to do the work of those who pay him.

I weep for my grandchildren. There's not a FUCKING thing I can do about any of this. There's no point in voting, the American people listen to lies 24/7 and the CONS have made sure that nothing can be done to stop it.

And meanwhile, China (where they take AGW science seriously) is rapidly cornering the market on green technologies. How depressing is it that the human race's future now rests on a ruthless communist dictatorship with an abysmal human rights record viewing its long-term best interests in a way that just happens to save us as well?

"While the conventional, political dangers - the threat of global annihilation, the fact of regional war - appear to be receding, we have all recently become aware of another insidious danger. It is as menacing in its way as those more accustomed perils with which international diplomacy has concerned itself for centuries. It is the prospect of irretrievable damage to the atmosphere, to the oceans, to earth itself.

What we are now doing to the world, by degrading the land surfaces, by polluting the waters and by adding greenhouse gases to the air at an unprecedented rate - all this is new in the experience of the earth. It is mankind and his activities that are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways.

The result is that change in future is likely to be more fundamental and more widespread than anything we have known hitherto. Change to the sea around us, change to the atmosphere above, leading in turn to change in the world's climate, which could alter the way we live in the most fundamental way of all. That prospect is a new factor in human affairs. It is comparable in its implications to the discovery of how to split the atom. Indeed, its results could be even more far-reaching.

The evidence is there. The damage is being done. What do we, the international community, do about it?

In some areas, the action required is primarily for individual nations or groups of nations to take. But the problem of global climate change is one that affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level. It is no good squabbling over who is responsible or who should pay. We have to look forward not backward, and we shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international, co-operative effort.

The environmental challenge that confronts the whole world demands an equivalent response from the whole world. Every country will be affected and no one can opt out. Those countries who are industrialised must contribute more to help those who are not.

The work ahead will be long and exacting. We should embark on it hopeful of success, not fearful of failure. Darwin's voyages were among the high-points of scientific discovery. They were undertaken at a time when men and women felt growing confidence that we could not only understand the natural world but we could master it, too. Today, we have learned rather more humility and respect for the balance of nature. But another of the beliefs of Darwin's era should help to see us through - the belief in reason and the scientific method.

Reason is humanity's special gift. It allows us to understand the structure of the nucleus. It enables us to explore the heavens. It helps us to conquer disease. Now we must use our reason to find a way in which we can live with nature, and not dominate nature.

We need our reason to teach us today that we are not - that we must not try to be - the lords of all we survey.

While the conventional, political dangers - the threat of global annihilation, the fact of regional war - appear to be receding, we have all recently become aware of another insidious danger. It is as menacing in its way as those more accustomed perils with which international diplomacy has concerned itself for centuries. It is the prospect of irretrievable damage to the atmosphere, to the oceans, to earth itself.

What we are now doing to the world, by degrading the land surfaces, by polluting the waters and by adding greenhouse gases to the air at an unprecedented rate - all this is new in the experience of the earth. It is mankind and his activities that are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways.

The result is that change in future is likely to be more fundamental and more widespread than anything we have known hitherto. Change to the sea around us, change to the atmosphere above, leading in turn to change in the world's climate, which could alter the way we live in the most fundamental way of all. That prospect is a new factor in human affairs. It is comparable in its implications to the discovery of how to split the atom. Indeed, its results could be even more far-reaching.

The evidence is there. The damage is being done. What do we, the international community, do about it?

In some areas, the action required is primarily for individual nations or groups of nations to take. But the problem of global climate change is one that affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level. It is no good squabbling over who is responsible or who should pay. We have to look forward not backward, and we shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international, co-operative effort.

The environmental challenge that confronts the whole world demands an equivalent response from the whole world. Every country will be affected and no one can opt out. Those countries who are industrialised must contribute more to help those who are not.

The work ahead will be long and exacting. We should embark on it hopeful of success, not fearful of failure. Darwin's voyages were among the high-points of scientific discovery. They were undertaken at a time when men and women felt growing confidence that we could not only understand the natural world but we could master it, too. Today, we have learned rather more humility and respect for the balance of nature. But another of the beliefs of Darwin's era should help to see us through - the belief in reason and the scientific method.

Reason is humanity's special gift. It allows us to understand the structure of the nucleus. It enables us to explore the heavens. It helps us to conquer disease. Now we must use our reason to find a way in which we can live with nature, and not dominate nature.

We need our reason to teach us today that we are not - that we must not try to be - the lords of all we survey.

And meanwhile, China (where they take AGW science seriously) is rapidly cornering the market on green technologies. How depressing is it that the human race's future now rests on a ruthless communist dictatorship with an abysmal human rights record viewing its long-term best interests in a way that just happens to save us as well?

Exactly. This is yet another case where many technologies developed in the US will be sold to us by foreigners because of government interventions and stupidity.

Hasn't it gotten there already? I recall a story on LGF about how a certain climate scientist (Michael Mann?) was being treated roughly by anti-AGW types.

That started a few years back, took a turn for the worse, then Mann and the science community fought back, then Barton got an academic at GMU to write up a bunch of propaganda to attack Mann, which now being evaluated by GMU for plagarism.

Indeed, if Hall goes forward he's going to uncover, to his chagrin, that the fraud was on Barton's part in attacking Mann. This will be egg on the face of the GOP House. This is why I suggested that Boehner and Cantor normally wouldn't go ahead with this, but they will not have much of a say in it given the seniority of Hall, Barton, and Sensenbrenner.

This is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.

Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.

By Chris MooneyThe Washington Post First, let's get one thing straight. Despite what you may have heard, it is cow burps, not cow flatulence, that are the real climate change problem. Here's how it works: Cows digest their food in ...

When Pages first went live it completely changed our blogging experience here. Who had never wished for a certain story to become a topic here? Then Charles kinda floated this idea about a favorite Pages kinda entry. That was a ...

So this gentleman in Cesena, Italy, really really wants the Foo Fighters to play there. So what does he do? He organizes an event of 1000 guitarists, bass players, drummers & singers all performing the Foo Fighter's hit, "Learn to ...

Thousands of people gathered in cities across the country on Saturday night to protest against the racist and homophobic attacks of the past few days. The demonstrations come in response to Thursday's mass stabbing attack at the Jerusalem Pride ...

CORAL DAVENPORT and GARDINER HARRISThe New York TimesAugust 1, 2015 WASHINGTON -- In the strongest action ever taken in the United States to combat climate change, President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday a set of environmental regulations devised ...

Saudi Arabia has reiterated its call on the international community to criminalize any act vilifying religious beliefs and symbols of faith as well as all kinds of discrimination based on religion. "We have made it clear that freedom of ...

Fewer than four hundred families are responsible for almost half the money raised in the 2016 presidential campaign, a concentration of political donors that is unprecedented in the modern era. The vast majority of the $388 million backing presidential ...

Over the course of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of civilian deaths has been staggering. In Afghanistan, more than 26,000 civilians are estimated to have died since the war began in 2001. In Iraq, conservative tallies ...

People who regularly read my byline will recall that back in April I wrote about poor Scott Walker making a huge gaffe just as it seemed like the Koch brothers, his presumed benefactors, were ready to go all-in on ...

More: abortion-funding-restrictions.pdf Each year Congress passes a set of 12 appropriations bills, which collectively fund government programs from October 1 of one year to September 30 of the next. Anti-choice legislators have continually used these "must-pass" bills as vehicles ...

A man who became agitated about his next-door neighbor mowing her lawn at night shot her and then ran a push mower over her body, authorities said Friday. Newsnet5 reported on Wednesday that Linda Ciotto, 62, was shot in ...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent Wednesday night at Duke University Law School, reflecting on the term that just ended and other major decisions during her tenure. As the New York Times reported, she talked about what she ...

So this showed up at my house today, it's an election mailer from one Jeffrey Guice who is running for re-election to the Mississippi State Senate. As you can see, it included an interesting detail... So basically he's taking pride ...

I was catching-up with Cracked articles. I found an obvious click-bait article, "4 Sexual Preferences That Only Recently Became Taboo": cracked.com Knowing that, I read it anyway. From there, I read a depressing article, "5 Ways College Screws Over Poor ...

So I downloaded the Win 10 ISO image today, and started the install. The first thing I come across is a screen asking what I want to keep, my apps, data, and program settings, my data and program settings, or ...

Dirct Link: Huffington Post Arabic - Kudos! Good to see this. The link takes you right there, but for us non arabic readers, a helpful translate panel comes right up. You who do read arabic can judge the content, ...

NYT -- More Edited PP Videos in the Pipeline The activist behind the videos, David Daleiden, has said he has enough covertly recorded footage for perhaps a dozen videos that he could release, one a week, for the next few ...

haaretz.com From the article: Swedish nationalists are planning a gay 'pride' march through Muslim-majority districts in the country's capital, according to media reports and a dedicated Facebook page. The march, called 'Pride J&auml;rva,' is scheduled to take place on July ...

Democratic presidential candidates should take heed. They need to come up with a way to speak to this issue. Otherwise, in an Obama-less election, part of the Obama coalition may not be motivated to show up. Obviously, you can be ...

Frank says:

There's no question in my mind -- the beer, the ballons and the bunting all start with "B" for some cosmic reason. -- Words that star with B and remind him of the Republican party. The Real Frank Zappa Book. Page 238